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Drummon
DRUMMON ‘You want to know me, Säuger? We are the earth, the stone, the forge. Of one body, one mind, one purpose. We are the Drummon and we have a destiny...’ Nickname: ‘The Miners’ Languages: Drummon Population: Säuger 6%, Eluvian less than 1% and Drummon: 94% Government: Caste Oligarchy Leadership: Six member Elder Council Lifestyle: Rigid caste system SOCIETY The mountains are the home to the Drummon people, where the Sauger were unable to live. The Drummon Holds are carved from the very mountains themselves, underground fortresses against the ravages of the orax, their traditional enemies. The Drummon have lived in a caste society for as long as their histories record. Organised into six castes, each is responsible for fulfilling specific duties to support the Hold. It was from these castes that the idea of the Guilds were adopted by the wider world, and though they have been expanded to include several arts not traditionally found amongst the Drummon, the responsibility of the castes within the Holds of the Drummon have remained relatively unchanged. In the past it is said that each Drummon would serve the caste to who they are born, trained from birth to fulfil a particular role. It is also said that this was necessary as the life of a Drummon was short and dangerous, ever under the threat of orax attack or other enemies. Over the centuries the life of the Drummon has become easier, some maintain because of the alliances made with the Eluvian and Sauger, others due to the distance the Drummon have placed between themselves and the ravaging orax. Each caste had its duties, its place in Hold and society and each were equally valued. But now the Drummon recognize that not everyone shares the talents of their parents and so movement between each caste is not uncommon. It is determined through the education of each child. In their formative years the children are exposed to the skills of each profession within the Hold, and by twelve his talents will have been discerned and he will be placed under the supervision of a family or master within the appropriate caste. This means that some children are raised with their birth parents, while many others are adopted at their teenage years into another. Both are considered family, but the caste for which they train is considered a more important part of one’s identity than that of one’s birth. Marriage between castes is possible as living quarters are often shared in the centre of Holds, but sons will be considered of the fathers’ caste, and daughters’ of their 15 mothers. Accumulation of personal wealth is not of concern to the Drummon, only service to the caste and Hold. Through useful work each Drummon can give meaning to his life and worth to the Hold for the food and resources expended on him. Each caste is still equally valued and respected in Drummon society, though is not always of the same size. For example and mining Hold will have a much larger Producer caste than any other, while one located on the border of orax territory may have almost as many Armsmen as all other castes combined. Each Hold, large or small, has a council formed from the heads of each caste. This council advises the hereditary leader of the Hold, or on occasion when this line becomes defunct or is absent they take over the duties. This leader is a descendent of the founder of each Hold, with most families stretching back up to a thousand years. The name given this leader can vary, of called by the name of the Hold itself. For example, the settlement of Haldron Hold will be led by a Drummon simply called “the Haldron”, and it will also be used the family name of the leadership line. These leaders will often learn either the arts of all the castes, or more often be trained in the primary trade/s of their Hold so as to better understand the needs of their people. This leader acts as ultimate judge within his walls, and depending on his training may act a general for his armsmen or leave such matters to the head of the armsmen caste. He is expected to abide by the wisdom of his council, because if all six castes agree on a matter then it must be followed. But the Drummon recognize that six voices cannot always speak together and so these leaders remain the deciding factor in contentious affairs. Overall the Drummon nation is lead not by one hereditary individual but by a council again of six members representing the six castes. These members are most usually appointed for the remainder of their lives, and must have excelled in their work within their own caste and Hold. All six might present themselves at matters of international import, or nominate one of their number when they are in consensus on a matter. Outsiders are few within their Holds, with Sauger more likely to be found working among the Drummon than the Eluvian. Both tend to find the underground dwellings restrictive, and very few families have made their permanent homes within Drummon society. Many may visit however in an attempt to learn some of the finer arts of Drummon craftsmen, secrets that are jealously guarded by the caste and requiring years of service to gain the trust and respect to learn these secrets. Other foreigners may be teachers themselves, of either the Mages or the Dedicated as neither of these professions fit well into the castes and do not easily find steady positions in most Holds. The castes: Armsmen – trained in weapon and armour use, they defend the Holds and halls, travel alongside caravans for protection and defend the borders against the raids of orax and other invaders. Scouts – using stealth and subtlety they monitor beyond the held lands, travelling alone or in small groups to bring word of the enemy to the armsmen. Often also act as hunters when their other duties allow. Producers – mine the hills and farm the fields, supplying the needs of all the castes. Craftsmen – Crafts goods of necessity and quality, for use within the halls and to be traded to the outside. Craftsmen can also be builders, creating the underground architecture of the Drummon Holds. Merchants – Carry goods to other places to be sold, both between halls and Holds and to foreign nations. Responsible for ensuring that their Hold’s needs are always supplied. Courier – The academics and voices of the Holds, they keep the histories, carry messages, and are most often the representatives to the outside. Despite the similarity between the Guilds and Drummon castes, those Drummon natives choosing to leave their Holds and travel in the world are required to formally join a Guild in order to receive 16 higher training. Drummon natives who travel in the world may be those who have left their Hold for personal reasons, or possibly those on particular missions for their caste or Hold. LAW Ultimately the responsibility of the leader of each Hold, some delegate duties of investigation and judgment to their caste council or other appointed within the settlement. Crime is very rare in Drummon territory, as most do not value wealth enough to steal or cheat for their own gain nor become jealous enough to raise a hand against their fellow. Those who are accused and judged guilty may be deprived of goods or luxuries, incarcerated when not engaged in their duties to the Hold, or even exiled from their Hold, or all Drummon Holds. Foreigners caught in misdeeds may be forced into working for the victim’s Hold until the value of their theft or damage is allayed, and once done may be barred from ever again entering that particular area. RELIGION Devotion is expected of every Drummon, every day of their life. They do not engage in large ceremonies or overt worship, rather believing that devotion to the gods is shown in their willingness to be of benefit to all life through their work. Drummon most often value the ways of Dahr, and many learn one or two prayers that they will use every day. Others will give their prayers to all three, usually privately or in family groups. It is very rare to find a Drummon who has chosen to forgo a place in one of the castes in preference to the path of a Dedicated, though larger Holds may support one or two Dedicated to see to the education and medical care of their residents. These Dedicated may even be Sauger, having come from large Houses outside of Drummon, or travel from Hold to Hold to ensure as many as possible have access to their arts. Most Drummon Holds will have a space for devotion to each god, but rarely could this be classed as a ‘House’. Sometime a room with symbols or idols to each, sometimes simple niches in the wall that one might pray to on the way to other duties. The larger Holds might sport a hospital that doubles as a House of Rund, but a House of Halb is essentially unheard of. MAGIC Drummon have not had great expertise with magic, and few find it of interest to learn. Their Eluvian allies and neighbours have offered to share its secrets but the Drummon usually find it easier to send for a mage from outside to assist when required. Their mundane skills have always serviced all their needs, and without magic they make the finest goods to be found across Dantir. The Drummon are not adverse to the utilization of magic, it simply doesn’t fit with the societal norms developed over so many centuries. In contrast to this the Drummon produce the majority of the Bones of the Earth, the highly sort after substance that contains and focuses magical energies. They do not work it themselves, exporting the raw product to mage schools across the continent. EDUCATION AND TRAINING From a young age each Drummon is chosen to be trained in a particular profession. Where once their fate would have been dictated by birth, now movement between the castes is common, where the talents of an individual are recognized and used. Children remain with their families while they are taught the skills of each caste in turn from around the age of seven, and by twelve will have been placed into a particular caste based on the talents they have shown. If this caste is not the one to which they were born they will be adopted by a family in their new caste until their training is complete. 17 The skills of the mage schools and the subtle arts of the rogue do not have a place in the castes, and so a Drummon wishing to learn these must decide to leave their homes in order to gain advanced training in these. These Guilds do have representatives in the largest of Drummon Holds, but a Drummon choosing these paths may find it difficult to find a place among their people again. The Dedicated are usually trained on a one-to-one basis, or only a very few acolytes learning from a true Dedicated in any one Hold. Most Dedicated will have other skills useful to the Hold as well, and anyone wishing to follow this path must do so in addition to learning the ways of one of the traditional roles of the Holds. TRADE AND INDUSTRY Digging underground strongholds has given the Drummon great expertise in working with all types of stone and soil, making them excellent miners. Their biggest export by far are ores and other substances mined from deep under their mountain ranges, or striped from the surface non-arable plains. Iron, tin, coal, precious metals, gemstones and Bones of the Earth are just some of the goods sold raw, while many of these are also turned into finely crafted commodities before trading. Drummon forged weapons and armour are highly sought after, as are jewellery, pottery and wrought goods. In return for such valuables they trade for many fresh foods, cloth, wood and luxuries. As they do not often have Portal Stones within their Holds most trade is conducted by the merchant caste using wagons for transport. Large goods cannot be carried any other way, but even small goods are more often sent by foot or horse until they reach outside the borders. NAMES AND LANGUAGE Drummon usually will use their own tongue within their homes, and it is possible that those who do not leave their Holds will not even learn Creole. Those from the merchant and courier castes will be conversant in it, and Dedicated and mages will have had to learn it when they were instructed outside their homes. Old Drummon was the language used by the ancestors before they had contact with outsiders like the Eluvian and Sauger, and while modern Drummon does not differ in its text there are many concepts and words it does not cover. Anyone conversant in modern Drummon may be able to read Old Drummon, but often the concept expression and structure are difficult to understand. It is still remembered in songs and stories that don’t always seem to make sense, and few choose to learn enough of it to become conversant. A Drummon name does not belong to the individual, but to her family, her caste and her Hold. She is given a personal name, often that of a family member or great member of their caste or Hold. She also has a family name – of her current or adoptive family, if she has changed castes. And often outside the Hold a Drummon will identify herself by her caste and Hold, hence her full name may be ‘Mara Theran, Miner of Hadron Hold’. The Drummon name thus belongs to the Hold as much as to the individual – and any stain upon the name, such as a crime committed – is a stain upon the Hold and family. Loyalty and honour of the family and the Hold is thus a motivation against infamous acts for many traditional Drummon. Example names: Male Names: Brokk, Draldis, Duruthror, Fenadyree Gimlin, Harain, Honbor, Storlin, Thorok, Thurin. Female Names: Balninda, Dali, Drynlis, Gimnalith, Garlind, Oringa, Thrali, Vilias. Family Names: Brimorn, Dunster, Dothrol, Fundor, Gurethror, Horthsorn, Mangur, Sunddor, Throdor. Hold Names: Annar, Anvari, Firth, Hadron, Nyr, Regin, Skandar, Thoris, Yendor. 18 DRESS Underground halls are often cold and so the Drummon use heavy layers of clothing. Shirts, pants and long tunics are worn by men, while women will prefer dresses over long underlayers. Coats, cloaks, hoods, mufflers and even furs are used by the merchants who must take the wagons of goods along cold mountain roads, while craftsmen will use leather aprons, harnesses or wrappings to protect themselves when working metals. Most Drummon will learn the basics of armour use and wear it when travelling at least within their own borders, as orax raids are very common and the roads of the eastern region considered dangerous. Most travellers will also go armed for the same reason. HISTORY The history of the Drummon people is recorded more in song and story than written works, and today it is difficult to interpret the oldest of these. What is known tells of Drummon halls that suffered near constant attack from the brutish orax and other strange creatures, scaled monsters that would eat any flesh they could find. Every man and women would be trained to fight off these invaders in addition to their own duties, and lives were often short and lived in constant fear. Children were raised to take on the duties of their parents when they fell, and armsmen by far outnumbered any other caste in a hold. Travel and trade were almost suicidal undertakings, so nothing was made that was not immediately useful to the settlement. The stories also tell of a day of confusion, of an army sent out to push back at the orax force attacking the hold. Thousands of armsmen, scouts and their craftsmen support fought off many times their number in the empty fields outside, when their hold was inexplicably taken from them. The warriors awoke to a sky of blood and looked around to find no hold, no mountainside or fortifications. But their orax enemies were still on the field, and so the battle resumed with even more bloodshed as each side took advantage of the disorientation of the foe. Finally the Drummon army made an orderly retreat into the nearest shelter they could find and began to fortify their position. Scouts were sent out to ascertain the fate of the hold, but those who returned found no sign of the Drummon home, only mountains, empty fields and wastes. Slowly they began to explore farther afield, encountering strange animals and plants as well as the enemy orax. Some of the animals walked upright like Drummon and orax, and even more like the flesh hungry creatures from the Drummon home. They seemed to speak some form of language too, but it was as foreign to the Drummon as the Drummon as the orax tongue. They too attacked the Drummon and forced them to retaliate. Digging new holds into the mountains the Drummon held off all outsiders, and began to spread across the lands. Contact with the Eluvian occurred a little later, and began just as contact with the Sauger had – with bloodshed. But the Eluvians used means very different than either the animalistic Sauger or savage orax, blasting at the Drummon with strange energies and making the earth itself rise up against them. Yet the Drummon continued undaunted, and the Eluvian ceased their invocations when they saw they could not scare away their enemy. Soon the two were able to find a common understanding in acknowledging the strangeness of the world they found themselves in, and by recognising each other’s difference formed an alliance against the forces that tried to drive them from their new strongholds. Through this alliance the Drummon were introduced to the Saugers called the Septorians, and began to learn that the enemy they had been fighting was indeed quite different than the savages they thought. But still armies of the creatures tried to drive them back, and with orax still roaming the lands the Drummon could do nothing else but dig in and defend their claimed territories. After many years a peace was sought, mostly led by the Sauger and Eluvians. The Drummon leaders came to the talks too, and were granted their claim over the territory they currently held. The Sauger Jeroen insisted that they be allowed to observe the court of the Sauger, and over time the Drummon have been allowed to vote on the choice of High King To this day they remain close allies of the 19 Eluvian, and through them the more distant Septorians, but even so no Drummon has ever been chosen to lead as High King. ENVIRONMENT Drummon territory claims most of the central mountain range of Dantir, leaving little arable land at its edges. Almost all settlements being carved into mountainside or fashioned from underground caverns have allowed the Drummon to make good use of this apparently untenable landscape, but has left them reliant on importing preserved food to many of these Holds. The land to the north and south drops down into plains that are able to produce some of the crops and herds needed, but the most viable land to the northeast unfortunately is the most dangerous of all Drummon territory. Here the Drummon must contend everyday with the raids of the orax, who will carry off any beast or person that strays within their range, making farming a risky business. The roads between Holds are usually maintained well enough for heavy wagons of goods to pass, but few have their own Portal Stones nearby. How others see the Drummon people: Avantine – Full of such useful ideas. We could be friends if they could be made to serve us. Eluvian – Our allies are as rigid as the stone and just as dependable. Useful and with purpose. Septorian – Allies and trading partners, we love the goods they bring. But something in their expression tells me they don't like me. I don't like that. Toraneya – It is a shame that they are so closed off to the rest of the world. If they would but open themselves to the world they could provide it with such betterment. Jorgenwyld – Infuriating. They have power but not like us. They have strength that we cannot overcome. I hate them even as I respect them. Randwelt – They have their own sense of honour and we can respect any culture that can keep the Barbarians at bay. Ekhai Lāhui – Much like the crafts they make they find themselves shaped by the land even as they shape it. Kenaan – So much power for so little gain. I'd fear them but for their unwillingness to leave their mountain homes. Better to let them rot there for all time.